Aryayek Machine by E▲SY & C.O.U.

Ever wondered what Omar Souleyman's band would sound like played through a gameboy?
- Boomkat

Tracklist:
1. El Fen
2. Night
3. Khorshid Squarewave
4. Fire Chaowa (with Zahangir Alam)
5. Tarrific
6. Tashkent Skyclub
7. Balkan Bird
8. Drycleaners

The roots of the norwegian duo E▲SY & C.O.U. (Center of the Universe) are based in the electronic funky sound called skweee, but expands it in many directions; oriental music, central asian music, balkan and even bhanghra. On the Ayayek Machine-album they are using vocals for the first time with the help of singer Zahangir Alam. Some of the tunes also include drums by Kjell-Olav Jørgensen from the krautrock cult-band Salvatore, and also the finnish electro-producer Mesak has been adding some flavours to the mix.

E▲SY & C.O.U. is not just throwing exotic spice on a dry bread. This audio-børek is rather well-baked and spicy all the way through. As opposed to producers getting lost in introvert knobtwiddling, the band open up their windows to let the air from the outside world in.
Where recent development in electronic music shows a tendency to bomb the listener with mashed sound, on this album it's taken to another direction: there is space to breathe, there is time to think and they're not trying to impress anyone making something too fast or too complex.

While the music on Aryayek Machine is danceable and joyous, the title implicates a What if? A contrafactual musical history of what music would sound like if it persians invented the drum machine, or if the first synthesizer was made in Baku. The album is a hoax crystalball that reveals musical events that might happen in a different future.

E▲SY (Jon Platou Selvig) was musically educated through various bands inspired by krautrock, dub and a strong focus on rhythms. He started playing solo in 2008 and is currently working with music for theatre and films.

C.O.U. a.k.a Center of the Universe a.k.a. DJ Sissyfus (Jørgen Skjulstad) is a stayer in the norwegian DIY scene having released tons of music on his own Metronomicon Audio label and elsewhere.

Metronomicon Audio is a small record label based in Oslo, Norway. Strictly speaking, it is not really a label, but rather a community with some 20 active members and a wide range of affiliates which together aim to promote new and interesting music.

metronomiconaudio.net